The Dimensions of Socialization With Children

Some behavior is expected of us in all the settings into which we enter whilst we are expected to behave in certain other ways only in one specific position. There are patterns of behavior relating to such roles as that of a church sides man at morning service on Sunday that are played in only one setting. These will be called tertiary roles. In addition there is a large number of roles that are played in some, but not all settings. These secondary roles form a large and important part of what we learn whilst being socialized. Some examples will be mentioned very briefly here, though further consideration will be given to such secondary roles in later chapters.

The way in which we analyze secondary socialization is determined by the nature of the social system with which we are concerned. Thus, in advanced urban societies there are clusters of closely interrelated roles that centre on economic and on political institutions, but members of these societies do not play these roles constantly. Such roles may, there-fore, be considered as secondary roles, and much secondary socialization takes place in childhood. By the age at which adolescents leave school they already have learnt, partly at home and partly at school, an incomplete, but wide, knowledge of the occupational structure. In other words, their economic socialization as producers is well under way. At an earlier age they have learnt something of their national role, knowing who to support, for example, in a war or in an international sporting event. Similarly, children gradually learn their political roles so that they know not only such details of their own particular political system as how to vote, but also feel that they are part of it and have a greater or lesser degree of power to take part in and to influence political decisions that concern them.

Clearly socialization is a forward-looking process. In the political and economic examples that have just been given the child was enabled to learn more efficiently the behavior that was later expected of him because, whether consciously or not, prior preparation had been given to him. This preparation has been termed anticipatory socialization. The teaching of social studies at school is often a very relevant part of the child’s preparation for the economic and political roles that he will play in the future. The engaged couple rehearse together prior to marriage many of the behavioral patterns that they will later play as husband and wife. Likewise, the pregnant woman, at least mentally, prepares herself for her future as a mother.

This process of anticipatory socialization is important in that, if it is apt, it eases the transition into future positions. The young person who has been taught at school to study in the more independent way expected of him at a university or college will more easily move from the role of secondary pupil to that of tertiary student. Discontinuities in behavioral expectations are to some degree eliminated. However, anticipatory socialization may be misplaced and thereby discontinuities may remain or even be increased. The child who does not achieve the particular occupation to which he has been led to aspire because either his parents or his school have unduly raised his hopes will have greater difficulties in moving into his economic role than might otherwise have been the case.

One final point must be made before completing this examination of socialization from the structural perspective. Since we can talk of a life cycle of roles through which individuals move, socialization must clearly be a lifelong process. In recent years, as sociologists have realized that this concept and the analytical tools associated with it are equally applicable to the learning of adult roles, much work on adult socialization has been done. Socialization is not something that happens only in childhood. New roles must be learnt, and often old behavior must be forgotten because it is no longer apt for the new positions that are assumed or the new groups that are joined. This is particularly true as persons grow older. They are no longer expected to behave as young folk do. This is attested by the existence of such phrases as ‘mutton dressed as Iamb’. Adult socialization, however, builds greatly on the foundations laid in childhood mainly because, as psychologists have shown us, what we learn as children is more permanent in nature than what we learn in later life.

 

 

Tags:

The Interpersonal Children Perspective

Behavioral expectations or, in the language of the sociologist, roles may be laid out in an interlocking pattern which can be conceptualized as the social structure, but how are they actually learnt? Learning has been seen very much as a part of the province of the psychologist. What has the sociologist to say about learning that is of help to the teacher In beginning to answer these questions must be switched from looking at social structure to an examination of the manner in which people interact at a face-to-face or interpersonal level. Once something has been understood of the way in which learning takes place in a model situation where two people interact, then the possibility exists of extending this process to socialization in all parts of the social structure and at all stages of the life cycle. Basically, what has to be explained is how an individual indicates to another his definition of what social reality is in such a way that the other learns this version and makes it his own.

One useful model for examining the way in which socialization takes place at the interpersonal level is to use the idea of ‘feed-back’. This concept may be applied to the way in which two persons steer each other as they interact with one another. Let us take as an example a teacher in a primary school. She has expectations of herself in her role as teacher and of the behavior of the children aged, say, seven in her class. Her pupils likewise have expectations of their teacher and are willing to imitate or to obey her in order to learn what they take to be socially acceptable behavior. They may be willing, and this is important, either because they value their teacher or because they see her as powerful enough to insist that they do as she wishes. In either case they interpret the cues that the teacher feeds back to them consequent upon any action that she observes or knows them to have made. The teacher signals to them by a nod or a smile that to throw papers into the waste paper basket is valued behavior; it meets the value of tidiness which she wishes to teach to her pupils. But she may also indicate to them by a from or by words of disapproval that to throw paper darts even into the waste paper basket is not acceptable; it contradicts the value of orderliness upon which she puts great emphasis and which she hopes will become a valued part of the social reality that she will recreate in her pupils.

A point worth noting is that the range of behavior tolerated in any role is usually quite wide. There are strict and less strict, tidy and less tidy teachers. Because of this each individual has some chance to make, rather than just to take, his own role. When one remembers the very large number of positions that anyone person has to fill at any point in his life – for example, son, customer, holiday-maker, adolescent and so on – it is clear that there is considerable room for individuality in the way in which interpretations of each role are combined. Social devices do, however, exist to restrict the range of tolerated behavior in certain positions. Thus, many schools insist that their pupils wear uniforms that ensure that they are highly visible and cannot, therefore, easily deviate from the behavior desired by the school authorities.

 

 

Tags:

E-Learning Benefits – Top 10 Reasons to Adopting an Online Learning Program

Top 10 reasons to adopt e-Learning into your organization:

1. Geographical boundaries are virtually broken with e-learning. Learners can access content anywhere and anytime with emerging wireless technologies. As technology costs dramatically decrease on-line learning becomes more accessible by developing countries.

2. E-Learning can decrease the physical real estate you would need to house students. Students will learn from the comfort of their homes without any travel time.

3. E-Learning is very engaging. With new and emerging technologies learners can now exchange ideas with video-audio conferencing, live chat, and sharing documents between teams and groups.

4. With live reporting, learners can get live reports and feedback from instructors very quickly giving them a solid understanding of where they stand academically.

5. Subject matter experts and trainers can easily teach multiple classes and become more resourceful by cutting their travel time to and from a physical classroom.

6. Learning curves can be significantly reduced as learners will learn at their own pace and can always go back to review materials as many times as they want if they do not understand it completely.

7. Learner participation is more engaging; rapport is built easier between learners and trainers. Examples of tools used for this include Wiki’s and Blog’s. Also, people that would never speak up in a physical classroom may speak up online without social pressures. Additionally, learners can not only participate from a stationary computer but also from mobile devices like internet pads, laptops, and cellphones.

8. Materials can be reused and updated quickly. Content can be updated quickly, effectively, and almost instantaneously with a click of a button.

9. E-Learning is more cost effective than traditional in-class methods due to lower delivery costs of training, reduced preparation time for course materials, faster grading, and eliminated travel and accommodation. Additionally, learners can transfer digital content between various devices such as laptop, PDAs, pads, and smart phones with ease further reducing material and content duplication costs.

10. E-Learning is more environmentally friendly than traditional learning as eliminating travelling reduces CO­2 emissions. Also, e-Learning has virtually no printing costs which is another environment saving benefit.

These are some of the many reasons why you may want to implement e-Learning in your Organization.

Remember, e-Learning doesn’t have to completely replace your existing in-class courses or teaching methods. Many institutions utilize hybrid systems that enable them to keep their current student base while expanding their reach and attracting new students from a global audience.

 

 

Tags: